Fuse for a missile to be fired by a gun with rifled bore



Oct. 17, 1967 R. SIMMEN 3,347,166 I FUSE FOR A MISSILE TO BE FIRED BY A GUN WITH RIFLED BORE Filed March 4, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 1 RBERT S/MMEN ATTORNEY R. SIMMEN Oct. 17, 1967 FUSE FOR A MISSILE TO BE FIRED BY A GUN WITH RIFLED BORE Filed March 4. 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Ra BERT IM/MEN ATTORNEY R. SIMMEN 5 FUSE FOR A MISSILE TO BE FIRED BY A GUN WITH RIFLED BORE Oct. 17, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 4, 1966 INVENTOR EaBEk S/mmew BY M WALHORNEYY 3,347,166 FUSE FOR A MISSILE TO BE FIRED BY A GUN WITH RIFLED BORE Robert Simmen, Geneva, Switzerland, assignor to Mefina S.A., Fribourg, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Filed Mar. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 531,837 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Apr. 2, 1965, 4,625/65 2 Claims. (Cl. 10284) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention has for its object a fuse for a missile to be fired by a gun with rifled bore. The fuse includes safety means which is operative during transportation, associated with safety means for the detonator, a self-destroying system and safety means operating during flight designed so as to keep the striker in a predetermined safety position during a predetermined lapse of time after firing by means of a clockwork mechanism of the escapement type. The clockwork mechanism includes a toothed sector adapted to pivot around an axis parallel to the general axis of the fuse. The sector is provided with an eccentric mass so that sector is urged away from the axis under the action of centrifugal force. The toothed sector is also provided with an arcuate slot coaxial with its pivotal axis, the edges of the slot forming a bearing surface for a collar rigid with the striker.

According to the invention, the surface of the toothed sector thus engaged by the striker is provided with a recess inside which the collar of the striker is fitted, so as to lock the toothed sector against shifting before firing.

The accompanying drawings illustrate diagrammatically and by way of example a preferred embodiment of such an improved fuse. In said drawings:

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view of said fuse in its inoperative position.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to the preceding view showing the fuse in its set position.

FIG. 3 is an axial sectional View showing the fuse in its position upon impact on the target.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section extending transversely of the fuse through line IV-IV of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section through line VV of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section through line VI-VI of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a cross-section through line VII-VII of FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a cross-section through line VIII-VIII of FIG. 1.

The fuse illustrated includes an ogee-shaped body 1 in which is screwed a member 2 of a generally tubular shape, carrying at its lower end the detonator 3. Said fuse includes a striker 4 extending axially inside the body 1 and provided with a collar 5. The fuse 4 carries safety means for the detonator including a detonating primer 6 carried in a support 7 adapted to slide longitudinally in a housing 8 formed in the body 1 of the fuse. As

United States Patent 0 3,347,166 Patented Oct. 17, 1967 illustrated cross-sectionally in FIGS. 4 and 5, the movable support 7 is in the general shape of a T of which the transverse bar forms a large eccentric mass 9. Under the action of centrifugal force, said mass 9 has a tendency to carrying along with it the movable support 7 towards the side wall 10 of the housing 8 facing said mass 9.

Said movable support 7 is provided with a bolt constituted by a plunger piston 11 carried in a cylinder 12 formed in the support 7 and the axis of which is parallel with the axis of the fuse. A spring 13 carried inside said cylinder 12 urges the piston 11 longitudinally, so as to hold the extension 14 of the latter inside the opening 15 formed in the stationary plate 16. The movable support 7 is thus held in its inoperative position by said plunger piston 11, 14. Furthermore, the tip 17 of the extension 14 of the plunger piston engages an opening 18 formed in a balance wheel 19. As a matter of fact, said fuse is also provided with a safety system operating during flight and adapted to keep the striker 4 away from the detonating primer 6 during a predetermined period following the firing of the missile. Said safety system operating during flight includes a clockwork provided with an escapement wheel 20 driven by a toothed sector 21 adapted to pivot round a spindle 22. Said toothed sector 21 is provided with an eccentric mass 23 (FIG. 6) adapted to drive it under the action of the centrifugal force to which said sector 21 is subjected as soon as the missile has been fired and during its flght. A pinion 24 adapted to revolve round a spindle 25 meshes with the toothed sector 21 and is coaxially rigid with said escapement wheel 20 which cooperates in its turn with the balance wheel 19. Said balance wheel 19 is thus adapted to be driven into an oscillatory movement round the hollow spindle 26 located in the central portion of the body of the fuse 1. The tubular section of said hollow spindle 26 is adapted to form a passageway for the tip of the striker 4.

The toothed sector 21 is provided with an arcuate slot 27 the center of which lies on the axis of the spindle 22, through which arcuate slot the striker 4 passes as shown in FIG. 6, said striker engaging through its collar 5 the edges of the slot 27. To this end, the striker 4 is loaded by a spring 28 acting on the lower flange of a socket 29 bearing in its turn over the upper surface 30 of the collar 5 of the striker 4. Inside the body forming the socket 29 there extend radial housings 31 carrying small weights 32 formed in the case illustrated by balls. Said balls 32 are adapted, at the outer open ends of their housings, to cooperate with a sloping or bevelled surface 33 provided on a member 34 fitted in the body of the fuse 1. The arrangement including the spring 28, the socket 29 and the balls 32 cooperating with the sloping surface 33 forms a self-destroying arrangement adapted to fire the fuse whenever it does not reach its target, this being provided after a braking of the gyratory movement of the missile produced by the friction of air on said missile.

In said fuse, the arrangement of the striker 4 with reference to the toothed sector 21 is such that said two parts lock each other for the inoperative position of the fuse. In fact, the toothed sector 21 is provided with a recess 35 in which the collar 5 of the striker 4 can rest.

. As clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, said recess '35 is given a conical shape and the cooperating surface 36 of the collar 5 shows a similar shape. Consequently, as long as the spring 28 acting through the socket 29 in the striker 4 holds the collar 5 on the latter in position inside the recess 35 in the toothed sector 21, the latter cannot move angularly. Conversely, the striker 4 is also locked by said toothed sector 21.

The operation of the fuse described hereinabove with reference to the drawings is as follows:

As soon as the missile is fired and under the action of the considerable acceleration to which it is subjected in the gun, the plunger piston 11 collapses within its cylinder 10 and compresses the spring 13. The movable support 7 of the detonating primer 6 is thus released and so is the balance wheel 19. Under the action of centrifugal force, the movable support '7 moves radially towards the sidewall 10 of its recess 8. As soon as the missile passes out of the gun and the axial acceleration is cut out, the plunger piston is urged forwardly again by its pring 13, so that its extension 14 engages a recess 39 provided near the periphery of the plate 16, which ensures locking of the support 7 and consequently of the detonating primer 6 in its set position (FIG. 2).

The axial acceleration holds, throughout the progression of the missile in the gun, the striker 4 and socket 29 fast in their inoperative position so to hold the toothed sector 21 in the position illustrated in FIG. 1 and to prevent thereby any movement of the clockwork, as long as the missile moves inside the gun, in spite of the release of the balance wheel by the plunger piston 11, 14. As soon as the missile has passed out of the gun, the axial acceleration is cut out and centrifugal force produces on the one hand a shifting of the movable support 7 towards the sidewall 10 of the recess 8 as already mentioned and on the other hand it shifts forwardly the socket 29 which is driven into rotation by the balls 32 cooperating with the sloping surface 33 and rising along it as illustrated in FIG. 2. The toothed sector 21 which is subjected to centrifugal force begins thus rotating while shifting forwardly the striker 4 through its collar which is urged out of the recess 35 in the toothed sector. The clockwork starts operating and the rotary movement of the toothed sector is slowed down by said clockwork and the oscillatory movements of the balance wheel 19 which has been released as soon as the missile has been fired by the receding movement of the plunger piston 11, 14. The fuse remains thus safely in its set position on its path as long as the toothed sector 21 has not moved completely out of the path of the collar 5 of the striker 4. At the end of the travel of the toothed sector 21 and as illustrated in FIG. 7, the striker 4 is perfectly free to move axially. When it impinges against a target, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a pusher rod 37 (FIG. 1) extending axially of the body of the fuse 1, is urged back into the latter and urges the striker 4 into engagement with the detonating primer 6 and this leads to ignition of the detonator 3 and to explosion of the missile. In contradistinction, if the missile misses its target and as soon as centrifugal force has been reduced sufiiciently as a consequence of the friction of air on the missile, the spring 28 urges the socket 29 and the balls '34 rearwardly, moving simultaneously the striker 4 rearwardly through its collar 5. This leads to the self-destruction of the missile by reason of the striker 4 hitting the detonating primer 6. At the moment of the impact of the striker on the detonating primer 6, the thin partition separating the detonator from the detonating primer 6 is perforated, which produces the ignition of the detonator and therefore the explosion of the missile.

I claim:

1. In a fuse for a missile adapted to be fired by a gun with a rifled bore, the combination of a detonator at the rear of the fuse, a striker including a collar, located to the front of the fuse and adapted to move axially of the fuse towards the detonator, a detonating primer fitted to the front of the detonator in an inoperative position out of the path of the striker and adapted to be urged centrifugally along a path transversely of the striker path into an operative position for which it is inserted in the path of the striker to allow the latter to impinge on said primer and thereby fire the detonator, means locking the detonating primer in its inoperative position and released upon firing of the missile, means holding the striker at a distance from the path of the detonating primer, said holding means comprising a sector adapted to pivot around an axis parallel with the path of the striker and provided with an arcuate slot coaxial with its pivotal axis, the edges of said arcuate slot engaging the side of the striker collar facing the path of the sector, said sector also provided with a recess at the end of the arcuate slot furthest from the path of the striker and into which the striker collar is urged by inertia during the progression of the missile inside the gun, a mass rigid with said sector and adapted to be urged centrifugally away from the path of the striker during flight to thereby disengage the striker collar with reference to the sector, a clockwork driven by said sector and controlling the speed of the centrifugally shifted mass and sector, a movable support carrying the detonating .primer and provided with a bore parallel with the fuse axis, a stationary plate over which said support is adapted to move transversely of the fuse axis under the action of centrifugal force between an inoperative position for which the primer is outside the striker path, and an operative position for which the primer lies on said striker path, said plate being provided with a first and a second recess facing the path of the bore in the movable support, a plunger piston slidably carried in said bore and forming the means for locking the detonating primer in position by engaging said first and second recesses selectively for the inoperative and for the operative position of the support, a spring urging the piston into the first recess until the missile is fired and causes the piston to recede against the action of the spring to thereby release the support and primer and move into the second recess as soon as the missile passes out of the gun and the axial acceleration has ceased, the support having then reached its operative position, and means whereby the piston locks the clockwork when engaging the first recess.

2. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recess in the toothed sector and the collar of the striker have cooperating frustoconical shapes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,821,925 2/1958 Varaud 102 -84 3,039,392 6/1962 Simmen 10271 3,112,704 12/1963 Schaadt 10271 FOREIGN PATENTS 637,215 5/1950 Great Britain.

SAMUEL W. ENGLE, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL FEINBERG, Examiner.

G. H. GLANZMAN, Assistant Examiner. O 

1. IN A FUSE FOR MISSILE ADAPTED TO BE FIRED BY A GUN WITH A RIFLED BORE, THE COMBINATION OF A DETONATOR AT THE REAR OF THE FUSE, A STRIKER INCLUDING A COLLAR, LOCATED TO THE FRONT OF THE FUSE AND ADAPTED TO MOVE AXIALLY OF THE FUSE TOWARDS THE DETONATOR, A DETONATING PRIMER FITTED TO THE FRONT OF THE DETONATOR IN AN INOPERATIVE POSITION OUT OF THE PATH OF THE STRIKER AND ADAPTED TO BE URGED CENTRIFUGALLY ALONG A PATH TRANSVERSELY OF THE STRIKER PATH INTO AN OPERATIVE POSITION FOR WHICH IT IS INSERTED IN THE PATH OF THE STRIKER TO ALLOW THE LATTER TO IMPINGE ON SAID PRIMER AND THEREBY FIRE THE DETONATOR, MEANS LOCKING THE DETONATING PRIMER IN ITS INOPERATIVE POSITION AND RELEASED UPON FIRING OF THE MISSILE, MEANS HOLDING THE STRIKER AT A DISTANCE FROM THE PATH OF THE DETONATING PRIMER, SAID HOLDING MEANS COMPRISING A SECTOR ADAPTED TO PIVOT AROUND AN AXIS PARALLEL WITH THE PATH OF THE STRIKER AND PROVIDED WITH AN ARCUATE SLOT COAXIAL WITH ITS PIVOTAL AXIS, THE EDGES OF SAID ARCUATE SLOT ENGAGING THE SIDE OF THE STRIKER COLLAR FACING THE PATH OF THE SECTOR, SAID SECTOR ALSO PROVIDED WITH A RECESS AT THE END OF THE ARCUATE SLOT FURTHEST FROM THE PATH OF THE STRIKER AND INTO WHICH THE STRIKER COLLAR IS URGED BY INERTIA DURING THE PROGRESSION OF THE MISSILE INSIDE THE GUN, A MASS RIGID WITH SAID SECTOR AND ADAPTED TO BE URGED CENTRIFUGALLY AWAY FROM THE PATH OF THE STRIKER DURING FLIGHT TO THEREBY DISENGAGE THE STRIKER COLLAR WITH REFERENCE TO THE SECTOR, A CLOCKWORK DRIVEN BY SAID SECTOR AND CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF THE CENTRIFUGALLY SHIFTED MASS AND SECTOR, A MOVABLE SUPPORT CARRYING THE DETONATING PRIMER AND PROVIDED WITH A BORE PARALLEL WITH THE FUSE AXIS, A STATIONARY PLATE OVER WHICH SAID SUPPORT IS ADAPTED TO MOVE TRANSVERSELY OF THE FUSE AXIS UNDER THE ACTION OF CENTRIFUGAL FORCE BETWEEN AN INOPERATIVE POSITION FOR WHICH THE PRIMER IS OUTSIDE THE STRIKER PATH, AND AN OPERATIVE POSITION FOR WHICH THE PRIMER LIES ON SAID STRIKER PATH, SAID PLATE BEING PROVIDED WITH A FIRST AND A SECOND RECESS FACING THE PATH OF THE BORE IN THE MOVABLE SUPPORT, A PLUNGER PISTON SLIDABLY CARRIED IN SAID BORE AND FORMING THE MEANS FOR LOCKING THE DETONATING PRIMER IN POSITION BY ENGAGING SAID FIRST AND SECOND RECESSES SELECTIVELY FOR THE INOPERATIVE AND FOR THE OPERATIVE POSITION OF THE SUPPORT, A SPRING URGING THE PISTON INTO THE FIRST RECESS UNTIL THE MISSILE IS FIRED AND CAUSES THE PISTON OT RECEDE AGAINST THE ACTION OF THE SPRING TO THEREBY RELEASE THE SUPPORT AND PRIMER AND MOVE INTO THE SECOND RECESS AS SOON AS THE MISSILE PASSES OUT OF THE GUN AND THE AXIAL ACCELERATION HAS CEASED, THE SUPPORT HAVING THEN REACHED ITS OPERATIVE POSITION, AND MEANS WHEREBY THE PISTON LOCKS THE CLOCKWORK WHEN ENGAGING THE FIRST RECESS. 